In my M.I.A. days I’ve been out and about, since there’s so much to do in Vancouver. Did I mention, I love this city? If you’re staying with us at Cassandra Hotel and looking for something to do/eat/play, maybe my adventures can spark some ideas for you as well.

Adventure Day 1.

Fraser View Golf CourseClubhouse Sandwich

Fraser View Golf CourseSandwich and Calamari

The club house at Fraser View Golf Course (only about a 10 minute drive from Cassandra) is a great, low key place to relax and grab a beer and some appies or burgers and sandwiches… Even if you had no intention of using the greens like me. They have a great patio with a close up view of one of the holes so you can get some live golf action while you eat. I’m not a golfer myself but it was fun to watch them play.

We had the Calamari (which came with tortilla chips to my surprise), the clubhouse sandwich and a turkey, ham and Swiss sandwich which I cannot remember the name. I gave in to the beer trend (I wanted something else but I also wanted to fit in, I never knew golf was a beer sport haha) and got some kind of honey lager… not a fan. But the portions were SO big.. In the end when we packed the food up, we pretty much had one full sandwich and fries left. Should have just shared one. Now we know..

Wheeee = pLaYLaNd @ PNE

Then after a SUPER filling lunch we went to PlayLand (btw. the Cassandra Hotel is just 10 minutes from pLaYLaNd a the PNE) . NOT a good idea. Reader advisory: walk off the food before going straight onto the rides. No body likes a mess. There I am riding on the swinger with the stuffed pig that I won. I was almost pressured into returning him because one of his legs was falling off. NEVER! If I return him, no one else will want him or love him =[. Poor piggy. So I kept him and I love him all the more for his three-leggedness.

Adventure Day 2.

I love the bustling city life, the people and the energy. But sometimes, we all need to unwind. If you are living here and need a break like me, or visiting our beautiful city but want a change in scenery, check out Harrison Hot Springs. In about a 2 hour drive, you can go from

Vancouver Skyscrapers. lol

TO

Harrison Hot Springs +HERE

It was sooo sunny, perfect for just lying on the beach and soaking it in. Be sure to hit up the hot springs pool for the therapeutic sulfur water, cute restaurants all along the beach and you can even rent a little cart to cycle around in. How cute. We also had a fancy dinner at the Copper Room which is like a traditional ball room with a live band and dance floor in the middle of the restaurant. If you want to go there though, make sure you dress up. They have a dress code. No Jeans, no running shoes, no T-Shirts. Or something like that. Food was good, a little pricey of course, but we went for the set menu which was a good deal. It was too fancy of a place for me to look like a dork and take pictures of the food… *sad*.

Adventure Day 3.

Decided to spend a day wandering around Kitsilano area just for fun. Cool shops and restaurants to look at and browse in. Definitely recommended in Vancouver if you are looking for a chill day without spending too much energy.

Volcano Roll

Drunken Monkey Roll

Battered Prawns

Ate at The Eatery a Japanese Sushi Bar in Kitsilano! Apparently have the funkiest Japanese food in town. Definitely  have funky decor. The entrance is lit up with neon signs reading “Miso Hungry” and “Miso Horny”. Haha loves it. I had a super hard time deciding because they have super interesting appies and side orders (Tuna drops: Deep fried tuna! I didn’t get to try that, next time) and almost 3 pages of super interesting rolls. We had the Volcano and Drunken Monkey ( inspired by the “Paul Frank” monkey) rolls. I cannot remember now what was in them. Overall good. One complaint, the tuna in the volcano roll was kind of mushy. Everything else was good. I just like my fish firm.

Cupcakes in Kitsilano

Cupcakes, sweets, Yum!

Time for Dessert! Walking down Kits, I’ve always walked by Cupcakes in Kitsilano, and the one downtown too. But I never went in. I’m not a big fan of icing. But finally decided to give it a try. Definitely super CUTE! Love for the blueberry and chocolate ones. No love for the plain cake ones, the mint and the coffee ones. I’m picky like that.

Time for the beach!

Pretty 'Kits beach" view

Vancouver "kits beach"

Ferris Wheel at PNE pLayLaNd

When it was almost getting dark, headed over to Kitsilano beach.(aka. “kits beach” to Vancouverites) I LOVE the beach at night. And I LOVE silhouette pictures. So pretty and romantic. Love, love, love, amour.

And just to end the day off right, we went to the Fair at the PNE. I love browsing and looking at random stuff. So many stands and games and so much more rides than pLaYLaNd at PNE (Carnie rides! haha). The Ferris Wheel at night is beautiful. *Swoons*

Don’t forget to hit all these must see places while you are visiting us in Vancouver! Recommended by yours truly. Hope.

Contact Us

Cassandra Hotel
3075 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC, Canada V5R 5J8
www.cassandrahotel.com
Tel: (604) 430-3441
Fax: (604) 430-8594
Toll-Free: 1-800-665-2532
email: reservations@cassandrahotel.com

* “Ferris Bueller is a bad influence on the student body… the sporto’s , bloods, geeks… they all adore him – they think he’s a righteous dude.”

My primary food group for the last two days has been Sushi. It’s not a well rounded diet, but you can’t really say its unhealthy. Staying at the Cassandra, you definately have a HUGE selection of restaurants and types of food to choose from. Even I can’t decide sometimes. But on those days you feel like me and want to go on a sushi binge, check out these recommendations.

Japan House

Ok.. so I am horrible with directions and could not possibly remember the address of this place to save my life. Apparently they  have no website. C’mon people, we live in the 21st century… where is the technology?? We are supposed to have robots and flying cars by now! Maybe some kind soul will supply me the address or a very well hidden website.

Japan House - House Roll

The place is an old building. Apparently it has been there forever and been through many changes in ownership.  We ordered the House Roll, Agedashi Tofu and Chicken Ramen. Only the House Roll was special enough for some camera time. I guess we were too hungry at the time. Roll was pretty good. Ramen was just like any other ramen but the heat from it PLUS the hot tea was making me overheat. Not to mention it was a pretty hot day, the light is shining near my face…. Needed a moment to cool down while eating. I actually didn’t try the tofu, somehow it didn’t catch my attention until I was too full.

The rest of the menu looked interesting but didn’t get a chance to try any others, maybe next time or someone can try the other choices and let me know how it is.

Sushi Oyama – Japanese Dining House (sounds fancy already)

5152 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H 2E8

Sushi Oyama

I have been looking at this place since it opened and FINALLY got a chance to go. It not only sounds fancy but also looks fancy from the outside and still has its Grand Opening banner outside (though its been a while.. how long is an opening supposed to last?). So if you’re looking for a gigantic sushi house on Kingsway, you can’t miss it. To be honest, that building has been there forever but I have never noticed what it was. It must’ve been another restaurant which I used to completely ignore.

Very nice patio area, especially on a nice sunny day in Vancouver like today. Sipping a drink on a patio weather. I love Vancouver. Anyway, I chose to sit inside, though, just to check it out and its very nice, Asian contemporary, but didn’t get to see the second floor   The garden outside is very nice, looks like someone takes good care of it. When walking in we saw someone (owner?) tending to the garden. So charming.

Ok… lets get to the food. My favourite part.

They seem to have a few interesting special rolls. Wanted to try all as usual, but stomach can only take so much. Had the chicken karaage, a little oily but not too much batter which is a plus for me. We tried the Mangodise Roll (Mango, Crab, Shrimp on top) .. yum. Perfect summer roll, sweet, light and refreshing. Feel like I just needed a cool ice tea or lemonade to finish it off. Also tried the Red Roll (Scallop inside, spicy tuna outside) so different. Spicy. But also good. I approve. And definately a large portion of sashimi.. more than enough for two.

Prices are very good. Special rolls are around 5 – 6 dollars for about 8 pieces. Lots of combos for good prices too. Definitely a recommendation while you are here. Interested? Ask Front Desk for directions, or just go for a drive down Kingsway in Burnaby and look for the house with pretty gardens.

Chicken Karaage

Mangodise Roll

Red Roll

Salmon Sashimi

I had a mini feeding frenzy last week. The gluttony. With a new restaurant opening almost every week, how will I ever reach my goal of eating at every restaurant in the city?! Anyway, here goes my one week journey through the diverse Vancouver (plus a few outside Vancity) dining world.

Day One. Mayuri

The poori was humongous! Compare it to the size of the fork.

Thali with two Pooris, plain rice, flavoured rice, daal, fried potato, curry potato, yogurt, sweet, pickle and papadum. So much food.

Vegetarian South Indian Restaurant (12677  80th Avenue, Suite 102A, Surrey) Recommended by Raman! Thanks, liked it.

Whenever I eat out with my family now, we always have to find vegetarian options. My brother is now a born-again vegetarian.

If any of you know someone like that too, I feel for you. I know I am killing animals, but humans are OMNIVORES, according to both science and history. Geez,get with the program! Anyway, the food was still good. I’ve got no issues with yummy veg dishes. Props to Mayuri.

A very cool thing they had was a family dosai. 4 feet long. FOUR FEET. 1 feet per person?

The Flying Tiger Restaurant
2958 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. Tel: 604-737-7529

Hope here again, writing about yummy food in Vancouver. My other post is about The Sea House Fish and Chips restaurant on Kingsway.

…. Anyway , I finally went to Flying Tiger Restaurant in Vancouver, after wanting to go for ages. It is modern Asian street food. Heard a lot about it before hand and went in with pretty high expectations. And happily, they didn’t disappoint.
Ordered the Filipino style pork belly and the Hawker street noodles. BTW, it’s all tapas style sharing plates that come out one at a time. A must for when you stay in vancouver.

Filipino Style Braised pork Belly

The Filipino style braised pork belly with garlic rice and mango pickle. Very yummy pork but didn’t really like the rice. It was a little bland but way too garlicky at the same time. It was ok if you pour the liquid from the pork on top though, because it disguised the strong garlic taste. I forgot about the mango pickle until I was pretty much done with the other stuff so I didn’t try it.

Hawker Street Noodles

The Hawker style noodles followed. Delicious and filling after a long day of walking and taking video around Spanish Banks. I left all the green beans and one of the friendly waitresses asked if I was leaving the best for last. Actually, I’m just not a big veggie eater. Whatever, fiber is overrated anyway. Definitely one of my favorites for Asian food now. And if you are ever wandering around the kits area, I highly recommend stopping by for a bite.

From the Cassandra Hotel on Kingsway follow the directions below;

Hi, I’m Hope and I work a the Cassandra Hotel on Kingsway. If you like posts about food, then check out my previous post about yummy Filipino Style Food in Kitsilano. Went out during lunch today. In my attempt to try all restaurants near work (Cassandara Hotel on Kingsway), decided to try out The Sea House Fish and Chips which is less than a 5 minute walk from Cassandra Hotel. I drove there, but that’s not the point! Sometimes we are all allowed to be lazy. They had chowders, sandwiches, burgers, seafood combos and fish and chips of course. For quite reasonable prices ($4.25 for my one piece cod and chips). The place was kinda big and empty but looks very clean, food is cooked FRESH for you. I know this because I burnt my tongue pretty badly with the first bite of my fish. I had to cool it in my mouth for a good 5 minutes (I couldn’t spit it out in front of people!) Ouchhh.

Fish And Chips

A bit too much chips for me b/c I’m not a big fan of thick cut fries, but I mean, more for your money is always good. I would’ve packed it up but I don’t like soggy fries either. Picky, I know. A very good size fish, compared to some other fish and chips places I’ve tried. I had the cod this time, due to lack of money, but I look forward to having their halibut next time. That was the one bad thing. CASH ONLY. Why don’t people share my love of plastic? I <3 my debit and credit cards, I never carry cash. But I was saved this time, thanks Marc!

Burger "the Works"

Marc’s Bacon, Cheese and Mushroom Burger. It was dripping succulent sauces (a.k.a. fat) but definitely looked juicy. Who cares about health, haha, we all need to indulge once in a while. He asked for less fries. Smart… should’ve thought of it myself. Overall, good value and good food for a midday-deep-fried-craving. Give it a try if you are in the neighbourhood or looking for a quick lunch bite within walking distance when you are staying with us at the Cassandra Hotel. But remember to stop by an ATM before hand if you are anything like me.